156 SWEET-SCENTED VERNAL-GRASS. 



England now omit sowing this grass. Its fragrance when wilted, 

 bruised or dried, is its chief recommendation, and about the only 

 one for its use on the lawn. It is too apt to kill or be crowded 

 out, a little coarse, bunchy, and uneven for a velvet and elastic 

 turf. It likes rich, moist soil and cool summers. T. M., in 

 Treasury of Botany, says; ^^The fragrant resinous principle 

 which occurs in this grass, and is called coumarin, is a widely 

 diffused natural perfume, being found in the Tonka Bean, the 

 Faham tea-plant, the sweet-wood-ruff, melilotus, and the blue or 

 Swiss melilot." 



'''In Northern Michigan, and probably in other places, the In- 

 dians raise this grass and use the stems for mats, card baskets, 

 and other small articles* It is sometimes used for bonnets, hats, 

 and bouquets. The culms and flowers possess the strongest per- 

 fume, which remains for a long time after drying." 



"The Italians," says Dr. Lindley, ''Are said to employ the 

 distilled water as a j^erfume. " 



The writer and one of his students made some experiments in 

 feeding sweet vernal when in flower. A young liorse kept on dry 

 feed, preferred fresh June grass to sweet vernal, but ate all of 

 both, small bunches. 



Some meadow foxtail and sweet vernal had been cut in flower, 

 and dried for some days. One short-horn coav rather preferred 

 the foxtail, but ate both readily. Another ate both alike, another 

 ate the foxtail and refused the sweet vernaL An Ayrshire cow 

 ate both greedily without preference Two of the farm horses 

 ate both alike, while a third preferred the foxtail, but ate both 

 readily. The cows had been in pasture some weeks, the horses 

 had been kept on dry feed. 



Gould says : " It is nowhere considered a very valuable species 

 for hay, as the culms are wide apart, very thin, and bear but few 

 leaves ; hence it gives a light crop of hay, at best not over three- 

 quarters of a ton of hay from an acre. The seeds are not very 



